The lord pointed a trembling finger at the mask. “I know that anyone put inside one of those…thosethings,is better off trapped. Whoever is in there possesses a power that would destroy the world if released.”
Serenade opened her mouth to speak, but Hadrian cut her off. “Even the warrior-princess, Sable Erwyn Sylvana?”
For the first time since showing him the mask, the Lord of Aquatica’s tense features melted into surprise. His gaze flicked briefly to his guards—a stocky man in particular, with a face that reminded Avalon of a fox. A deep scar ran below his left ear, and suspicion shone in his gray eyes. The lord’s captain of the guard, perhaps.
“You knew her.” Hadrian was scrutinizing the lord’s ever-changing expression. Murmured conversation started up among the others, and Avalon forced herself to concentrate on breathing. Hadrian went on. “You also knew her parents. You once believed she could stop the war, that she and her brother had the power to overthrow the Dark Lord and save your people from certain death.” Avalon gaped at him. What did he know about Sable that she didn’t?
“If I told you,” the captain continued, “that Sable was unfairly trapped inside this mask when her realm was seized ten years ago, would you change your mind?”
The lord’s mouth was a thin, bloodless line. Avalon held her breath as everyone waited for him to speak. “What happened ten years ago has nothing to do with me,” he said at last. “Perhaps whoever it was made the right decision—”
“Or perhaps you’re nothing but a coward.” The entire room fell silent again. Someone coughed. “The war has been going on for years, yet you sit here in your palace of shells, safe on your islands, surrounded by sea monsters that do your fighting for you.”
The lord’s jaw clenched.
The volume of Hadrian’s voice dropped, but the intensity of his words remained. “One day, the king’s power will be too great for even a mask—anIron Blind—to contain. And when that day comes, not even your sea monsters will be able to save you. If Sable is powerful enough for people to believe she should be locked away, thenIbelieve she can help us.” The captain met the gaze of every person at the table, saving Serenade and Jamal for last. “In order to break the curse that binds Sable to this mask, we need several of the Sacred Stones. One of the stones we need is the sapphire apparently hidden in Lake Lomond—”
The lord’s fist came down on the table, rattling the plates and silverware.“You will not set foot in my temple!”
“Father,” Serenade protested.
The room was entirely silent, save for the citrusy wind fluttering the lace curtains and the distant calls of seabirds.
Hadrian’s next words were uttered in a lethally quiet voice. “I’m disappointed in you. When Sable is free of this mask, perhaps she will forgive your insolence.” He pushed out from the table and stood. His voice was even quieter but just as powerful as he declared, “But I will surely not.”
The Lord of Aquatica heaved himself to his feet, and several of his guards came up behind him, the one with the scar included. “It’s true I once believed in Sable and her brother, as did the whole of Elderyn,” the lord gritted out. “And look where they ended up—where weallended up. I will have no part in this.”
Oceathus threw down his napkin and shoved his chair aside. He rounded the table, only slowing his pace as he passed Hadrian. “My people deserve none of the bloodshed you will bring upon their heads with this request.” He brought his face in closer. “And I will not comply.”
Serenade tried to speak, but Jamal stilled her words with a hand pressed over her fist that was resting on the table.
“You have until noon tomorrow to take your leave,” Oceathus stated.
Coward,Avalon thought, grinding her teeth. He was nothing but a coward.
He turned on his heel and left the room, his white robe fluttering behind him.
As Avalon looked at Hadrian, it felt like steam was blowing out her nose and ears. She was so,soangry. She made to stand, to go after the lord. But when Hadrian shook his head at her, she relented and sank in her seat.
Her heart sank with her.
36
Lord Oceathus burst into their chambers at dawn, startling Avalon and Hadrian awake. In the bed adjacent to hers, Hadrian was gripping a knife in one hand and the cloth bag containing their precious items in the other.
Had he kept it with him all night?
“Wake up,” the lord commanded as his daughter Serenade swept into the room and pulled open the white lace curtains. Avalon threw up a hand to block out the pearly sunlight that flooded the room. “There’s something I need to show you.”
~
“The Children of Light were the first settlers here.” The Lord of Aquatica’s booming voice bounced through the murky cove. “They left little behind once they disappeared, and most of what they left was claimed by passers-by long ago.”
Despite that the sun was only just rising, there was no denying the heat. Sweat beaded on Avalon’s brow as she turned to look through the narrow entrance of the cove that was several paces behind her now. The turquoise sea sparkled beneath the sun, as if thousands of diamonds were trapped beneath the surface. During their trek down to the bay, she had spotted mountain goats, mongoose, frogs, and butterflies all shapes and sizes. Knowing it was more than likely that she would never come back here, she wished they had more time to admire the creatures in their glorious habitat.
She kept the mask on as they strode deeper into the cove. Sable was mostly silent, but Avalon could feel that she, too, was in awe of the sheer beauty surrounding them. Serenade barely looked at what her father had called anIron Blind, but Jamal gawked every chance he got, which gave Avalon reason to not fully trust him. Along with Hadrian and Oceathus, they were the only others present. No guards this time.
“Perhaps the most precious thing the Children of Light left behind was their stories,” the lord went on. The path before them was lit only by the torch he held in his thick fingers and the few rays of light streaming through the cracks in the moist ceiling of the cove. Wet sand sighed beneath their feet as they walked, and the cries of gulls bounced from someplace high above.
